Her First Class
by Anise Nalci
Summary: -She wonders where the years have all gone.- Frizzle-centric fic about the first few batch of students she taught.


Her First Class

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She wonders where the years have all gone.

Her once vibrant red hair is now faded, as if it had been washed too many times and the colour had leached out.

She remembers the first class she had taught. She hadn't want to be a teacher, but somehow, Mr. Rhule managed to convince Murph (who was at that time his secretary, before quitting and setting up her own recycling centre) to join the faculty after she graduated. "We don't have enough staff, if your cousin doesn't know what she wants to do, she might as well help out her old school!"

And she got roped into substituting old Mr. Braun, the science, who was going to retire. And then, it was as if she had found her calling - she _knew_ she wanted to teach. That very class, well, somehow she _connected _with them.

She found out that they were tired of boring classes and loved field trips, and not just _any_ field trip, but something so awesome, a trip that would be _out_ of this _world_. And Ms. Frizzle was determined to give her students a love of science and a passion for the subject. So she enlisted help from her various intellectual and wealthy relatives and family friends, and decided to make a bus that could fit all of the students which could take them on real field trips where they could have a hands-on learning experience. A month later, Mr. Junkitt had given her the keys to her brand new bus. It didn't look like much, but it was amazing.

"I hope you know how much effort this took, Val. I didn't sleep more than an hour each day for a month. And you ought to know that _no one_ can know about this technology - the CIA would have a fit if they found that your great-uncle and I were keeping this breakthrough a secret from them," Mr. Junkitt said in a mock-stern voice.

Valerie Felicity Frizzle simply gave a winning smile of gratitude in reply.

She only had one opportunity to use that bus with Mr. Braun's students, and they were all dazzled with how wonderful science really was. They learnt about heat, in that field trip to the arctic. Later, when they grew up, they would wonder whether they really _had _gone to the arctic - it was all a blur of memory, and how could they really explain it? At nine, they didn't know that Ms. Frizzle had connections that allowed her to utilise top-secret government-unaware-of technology, and besides, it seemed too far-fetched. Yet they never forgot the basics of heat transfer, even as they doubted the means by which they had learnt it. They had forgotten her in the end as they stopped believing in her, and she in turn forgot them - their names, their faces. Harry Arm was the only one who trusted his memory and Ms. Frizzle, so she would always remember him. However, all she really remembered from that class was the beginning of her undying passion of teaching.

Her first class where she taught a whole year was the one she never forgot though. Such different characters, for so small a class! There was Arnold, always cautious and relatively introverted, never taking risks unless people he cared about were in danger, and then he was fiercely loyal. There was Carlos, the joker and semi-athlete, who was innately intelligent but chose to learn by unconventional means and a natural leader. Then there was Dorothy Ann, the anti-Carlos, who was precocious and exceptionally brilliant in science, but always going by the book. Keesha was the grounded one, smart and sassy, always trying to get to the bottom of things and got the facts before acting. Phoebe was the gentle soul, caring and loving everyone and everything despite her own insecurities, including animals, and she had a real passion for plants. Ralphie was the jock living in his own world, an avid comic book/pop culture lover, though he tended to be carried away by his own fantasy world. Wanda was the female equivalent of Ralphie, a natural jock and daredevil who was sometimes too brash for her own good, but meant well. As for Tim, he had the least to say, although he wasn't an introvert (not like Arnold, at any rate), but he was as grounded as Keesha and creative to boot. As for Janet - she only taught Janet a few times, but Janet was brasher than Wanda, more outspoken than Keesha, who was as smart as Dorothy Ann and was a wonderful rival to all of them. They were bright and they believed in Ms. frizzle, and Ms. Frizzle swore from then on she'd protect them with her whole life, and carefully planned and controlled each field trip so that the risk of anything unexpected happening was at a minimum. Of course, there were some errors, especially at the beginning when she taught, but in the end, she was always in control, and they were always safe, and they did - in their own way - love and trust her.

They were her first batch of successes, and she had successfully instilled in them a passion for science. Just as they would never forget her and the memory of those field trips would never fade, the few memories she shared with that first true class of hers would forever be etched in her mind. She would never forget them, and throughout the years, she managed to track them, from careers (they all chose something science-related, even Arnold!) to their respective marriages and children. She even met all of their children, who were adorable miniatures of their parents.

That had been so long ago. She was ageing, you could tell, but two things had never changed. She hadn't lost her love for science, and she darned well retained her love for teaching. Each batch of students that she taught learned to love science, and they were all successes, just like the first batch. She couldn't help but compare all of them to her first batch. After all, they _were_ her first. And even though they would all leave her in the end, she could always count on them being nearby and never forgetting what she had taught them. Besides, there were always new young ones to teach, and speaking of new young ones -

Head held high, she looked older, and yet the same, as she strode towards her classroom to meet her newest batch of students, with confidence and that mysterious look that all teachers have when they are making resolutions and planning ahead for their new class. Just as she did for her first substitute class and then her first homeroom class. And hopefully, she would - together with that bus - create magical memories and instil in them a passion that would last a lifetime, just like hers.

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_**Fin**_

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**Author's Note:** Just a short one-shot I was inspired to write after nitpicking the Frizz's character. Read and review, please!


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